1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular mirror assembly provided at a vehicle door.
2. Description of the Related Art
As illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a vehicular door mirror assembly 50 includes a door mirror visor 52 made of a synthetic resin, and a rear-view mirror (not shown in the drawings) is held in the door mirror visor 52. The door mirror visor 52 is split into a visor cover 52A provided at a vehicle front side (i.e., the direction of arrow FR) and a visor rim 52B provided at a vehicle rear side, and the visor cover 52A and the visor rim 52B are fit together to form the door mirror visor 52, which has the shape of a shell. An opening 54 is formed at a bottom portion of the door mirror visor 52, and a part of a case 56 provided in the door mirror visor 52 is disposed in the opening 54. A motor (not shown in the drawings), a fixation shaft 58, and the like, which comprise a door mirror electric retraction mechanism, are provided within the case 56. The fixation shaft 58 protrudes from the lower part of the case 56 and the opening 54 of the door mirror visor 52, and a stand 60 is provided at a lower end portion of the fixed shaft 58. Here, as described in FIG. 7, in the door mirror assembly 50 for a vehicle, a plurality of pole-shaped visor bosses 64 are integrally formed to protrude within the door mirror visor 52 (the visor cover 52A and the visor rim 52B). A flat plate 66 is fixed to the visor bosses 64, and the door mirror visor 52 is fixed to the case 56 through the plate 66. The stand 60 is fixed to a door mirror stay 62 provided at a vehicle door (not shown in the drawings), and the door mirror visor 52 is thus mounted on the door mirror stay 62.
In such a door mirror assembly 50 for a vehicle, as the motor (not shown in the drawings) within the case 56 is driven, the case 56 fixed to the door mirror visor 52 rotates around the fixation shaft 58. As a result, the door mirror visor 52 can be rotated with the case 56 from an operational state (a state in which the door mirror visor 52 protrudes from the side of a vehicle) to a retracted state (a state in which the door mirror visor 52 is extended along the side of a vehicle).
However, in the door mirror assembly 50 for a vehicle as described above, a gap is generated between the inner circumference of the opening 54 provided at the bottom of the door mirror visor 52 and the outer circumference of the lower portion of the case 56 (hereinafter, this gap will be referred to as a xe2x80x9chorizontal direction gapxe2x80x9d). Thus, there has been the problem that, while a vehicle is travelling, wind enters (in the direction of arrows A and B) inside the door mirror visor 52 through this horizontal direction gap and passes through the door mirror visor 52, causing pressure fluctuation and wind noises.
Further, because the visor bosses 64 (a position where the case 56 is fixed to the door mirror visor 52) are distantly removed from the upper part of the door mirror stay 62, large discrepancies arise in the size of the gap dimension G (hereinafter, this gap will be referred to as a xe2x80x9cvertical gapxe2x80x9d) between the bottom of the door mirror visor 52 and the upper part of the door mirror stay 62 due to manufacturing tolerance of the size and shape of the visor bosses 64. In other words, the dimension of this vertical gap is highly dependent on the accuracy of the visor bosses 64. In this case, forming the visor bosses 64 and the like within the door mirror visor 52 with high accuracy results in a decrease in manufacturing efficiency caused by manufacturing preparation, man-hours and the like, and leads to high costs.
In view of the facts described above, an object of the present invention is to obtain a vehicular mirror assembly that can restrict generation of wind noises without lowering manufacturing efficiency.
A first aspect of the present invention is a mirror assembly for mounting to the exterior of a vehicle, the assembly comprising: (a) a stay mountable to the vehicle exterior for supporting the assembly; (b) a support member having an outer periphery, the support member mounted on the stay; and (c) a holding member accommodating a mirror and mounted to the support member via a first fixation section, the holding member formed in a shell shape, having an opening with an inner periphery, wherein when the assembly is assembled and mounted to a vehicle, the support member is received in the opening so that the holding member is positioned, with the opening inner periphery abutting the support member outer periphery, at a second fixation section in a vicinity of the stay.
A second aspect of the present invention is a door mirror assembly for mounting to a door of a vehicle, the assembly comprising: a door mirror stay mountable on a door of a vehicle; a support having outer periphery, the support being provided above the door mirror stay and rotatably supported by the door mirror stay when the assembly is assembled and mounted on a vehicle; a door mirror visor having an opening with an inner periphery, the door mirror visor being mounted to the support by receiving the support in the opening and when the assembly is assembled and mounted on a vehicle, the door mirror visor holds a mirror and rotates back and forth from a retracted position and an operational position for providing a rear field view relative to the vehicle; and overlap portions provided at the outer periphery of the support and at the inner periphery, which overlap one another and impede air flow between the inner periphery of the opening and the outer periphery of the support.
A third aspect of the present invention is a mirror assembly for a vehicle, the assembly comprising: (a) a stay mountable to a vehicle; (b) a case having an outer periphery and accommodating a motor and at least one gear; (c) a mirror visor holding a mirror, the visor having a visor cover and visor rim which join to one another, the visor cover including an exterior surface, the visor having an opening with an inner periphery, the case being inserted into the opening when the assembly is assembled and mounted to a vehicle, with the outer periphery of the case and the inner periphery of the opening overlapping one another and positioned in a vicinity of the stay; and (d) a shaft protruding from the stay, upon which the mirror visor is rotatably supported by the case with the mirror visor rotatable from an operational position and a retracted position along with the case by operation of the motor driving the at least one gear.